Mushroom Surprise Meatloaf

I'm a sucker for meat loaf. Especially when I'm stressed. It's the ultimate comfort food for me, with lots of mashed potatoes...yum. Okay, South Beach Diet, Phase Two says NO to mashed potatoes, but these sweet potato chips would work too.

So what was missing? That's where I need your input. I added lots of fresh herbs - mint, parsley and oregano (so it would be perfect for Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Kalyn herself.) I punched it up with lots of Kozlik's Lime & Honey mustard. There even was a layer of mushrooms sauteed with thyme - that was supposed to be the surprise. (Obviously next time I'd have twice as many mushrooms though). It's not that it was bad. It wasn't, it just wasn't spectacular. So I'm wondering what you would do to add that "Je ne sais quoi" to this dish.

Mushroom Surprise Meatloaf

Click on the link, check out the ingredients and share your thoughts in the comments.

Related links: Food and Drink easy cooking South Beach Diet meat

Presto Pasta with REAL Pasta - BBQ Spaghetti Diablo

Finally, I can actually write a post for Presto Pasta Night that, in fact, has pasta in it. We've finally moved on to South Beach Diet, Phase Two, so as long as the pasta is mult-grain or whole wheat, I can serve it without any pangs of guilt.

One of my favorite foods in the world is lobster, and we are not only living in lobster territory, it's lobster season here in Nova Scotia. But my daughter keeps a kosher-style home (no shellfish or pork) so I'm eating it out, which is perfectly fine. And somehow, I've been dreaming of this great Italian restaurant in Toronto - a bit upscale, so we only ate there on special occasions. I'd only order the Seafood Diablo which had tons of shrimp, scallops and the other usual suspects in a great seafood dish. The really special extra was half a grilled lobster resting beautifully on top of the pasta. (Okay, I've been obsessively trying to remember the name of the restaurant and doing every kind of google search I could think of and...NOTHING!). So let's move on....

Just because I can't cook shellfish does not mean I can't make a Diablo, which really just means spicy, after all. And I just bought the cutest eggplants, have some asparagus spears standing at attention in some water and some Italian-style turkey sausages that need to be used. So I created this Spaghetti Diablo - BBQ style. It's got the heat, and the delicious char factor too.

BBQ Spaghetti Diablo

I do love it when different cravings come together so well in one dish. What are you making for Presto Pasta Night this week? Remember that ALL noodles dishes count as pasta and "presto" or "lento" (I think that means slow) are perfect. Find out how right here. In the meantime...Happy Pasta Eating and think of me when you do!!!

Food and Drink easy cooking pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night

Even More Connectivity

Just a short post...more about food blogging connectivity. Joining events like Sugar High Friday -it was my first foray, Weekend Herb Blogging - one of my consistent favorites, Weekend Cookbook Challenge - my other constant, and of course Presto Pasta Nights has opened my home to so many new friends from around the globe. There are so many foodie events these days, it's hard to keep up with them all. You can check out a partial list over at Sticky Dates. So if I've missed your event, leave me a comment and I know I'll be there for the next one you host.

Which brings me to another great idea started by The Leftover Queen. It's the Foodblog Roll and it's a terrific way to instantly find new friends. I love it. You can join the list too.

So many ways to expand your point of view - about food, about people, about places. There's nothing quite like the world of blogging - especially FOOD blogging.

And for those of you reading this, if you are going to Blogher07 in Chicago, leave me a comment. Hopefully we can connect.

Going to Blogher Conference

I'm going to the Blogher Conference - A World of Difference in Chicago at the end of July. It will be my first and I'm so excited. Blogging has opened up a whole new world of friends for me from around the world. Every week I meet great people who join me at my Presto Pasta Night table and now I can get to put a face to all those delicious recipes and great stories. So if any of you are planning to attend, let me know. I'd love to get together.

Since we've just moved to Halifax, I'm keen on knowing if there are any Atlantic Canada food bloggers who will be attending, as well ...make that Canadian food bloggers from coast to coast. It would be awesome to connect.

Related links: Food and Drink Blogher07 Blogher Conference conference

South Beach Dieting Update

"I still haven't gotten into a regular routine here in Halifax, so somehow our South Beach Diet has been taking place without me doing much recipe sharing. . We're more than half-way through Phase One. Here are some more highlights. " - That's all I wrote a week ago and the same still holds true. Where does the time go? Well in my case it looks something like this...

Too delicious, don't you think?!

We're done with Phase One but I did want to share some of our wonderful meals. Not all of them have photos, but the dishes did delight us.

Seared Sesame Tuna with Wasabi Mayo
Awesome Asian Salad



Baby Bok Choy & Mixed Mushrooms



Grilled Chicken Breasts with Adobo Paste

Black Bean Salad with Cumin & Mint Vinaigrette

Tandoori Salmon

Cauliflower Sookh Gobi

Curried Fiddleheads

Italian Bean Soup (no photo, sorry)

So, to all of you just starting out on South Beach - enjoy!

Related links: Food and Drink easy cooking South Beach Diet menu recipesfishvegetablessaladsoup

Presto Pasta Night Roundup Lucky #13

Unbelievable - I guess lucky 13 isn't always so lucky. A little blogger glitch lost the entire roundup. So it will take a little more time than usual, but it WILL be up today!

Let's try this again....I love milestones and we've now got a Baker's Dozen (so food appropriate) of Presto Pasta Night Roundups -Thirteen and lots of newcomers this week, I'm pleased to say. It's so exciting. So thanks to all of you who share recipes and for the rest of you who just like to browse. And I apologize in advance if my comments are not as pumped as they usually are. They were the first time around.

First in this week was a first-timer, Buttabuns with this Penne With Vodka Sauce. She's been visiting but never thought to submit because she thought for a pasta to be good it had to be rich and decadent. Now some of them are, but not all and now she knows better.


Truffles of What's On My Plate shares this Pasta with Smoked Salmon and Dill Pesto and it looks wonderfully fresh and Spring-like.


Fruittart joins us for the first (of many, I hope) time with this Linguine with Clams. She adds bacon and I just might have to try that.


Susan at the Well Seasoned Cook is also a PPN first-timer - welcome. She's wild about wild salmon and shares another Smoked Salmon Pasta. She'll tell you all about how "wild" isn't always wild.


Marta, the Italian in the US, is back and shares this warm salad of rotelle (or in my world - wagon wheel) pasta with Grilled Vegetables and Pineapple. Who'd have thought to use pineapple in pasta! But it looks wonderful.


Chris of Mele Cotte is back with this cute Farfalle with Feta Pasta Salad - sure says Spring! to me.


Katie at Thyme for Cooking (don't you love the name?) joins in the fun with this Beef, Chickpea and Feta Pasta Salad. First one for her summery season of cooking everything outdoors.


Kevin of Closet Cooking is back with this great dish of Roasted Red Pepper Penne. I just love the sound of it rolling off my tongue.


Sher of What Did You Eat? is back. This time she too, uses wagon wheel pasta for her very easy, very tasty Pasta with Broccoli and Parmesan Cheese. Don't tell me that doesn't say "Summer".



Becke, the Columbus Foodie is here again. She certainly knows how to transform leftovers. Check out this Pork Tenderloin with Ramp Pesto Gnocchi.



Alisha of Cook, Craft, Enjoy is here again too - yay! She shares some Pasta with Mizithra Cheese. It's a long story, so check it out.


Dayna, the Vegan Visitor dropped by for the first time too and brought this fabulous Asparagus and Portobello Mushroom Lasagna. I bet even the carnivores would enjoy it.


Haalo who Cooks Almost Anything Once is the only one this week to do a soup and what a soup it is! Miso Soup with Udon Noodles and Seared Scallops. What's not to love!



Ulrike of Kuchenlatein returns with a family hit - Orecchetti with Broad Beans & Salami. It does look delicious!


Rebeca of Dinner in the Yellow House went around the world to bring us this exotic trout spaghetti from Addis Ababa, and it's still warm!


And finally - make that SECOND TIME finally, my own dish. This will be the last no pasta pasta dish for a while. We're finally heading into Phase Two of the South Beach Diet where pasta is allowed, as long as it's whole wheat or multigrain. But this time my daughter made Eggplant "lasagna" that fooled everyone at the table.


Whew! That was arduous! I apologize if my blurbs were not as pumped as usual, and I really apologize if I've missed anyone. If I did, please let me know so I can add them to the roundup.

For some reason - blogging mystery - this is the second week that I somehow did NOT receive the most excellent entry from Freya over at Writing at the Kitchen Table. This time she sends an very intriguing Mac & Cheese. Sorry Freya, we'll have to figure out a better way to get your entries.

And how interesting is this...the other "lost" submission was also from the UK and also ...Mac & Cheese. This one is from Tinned Tomatoes and I'm so glad she was persistent. Now we also have this childhood memory version.

I will be adding late additions to this week's Presto Pasta Night until Saturday. Any I receive after that will be part of next week's PPN Event. So don't forget to join in with the rest of us Presto Pasta Nighters. It's easy and fun. Remember that ALL noodles dishes count as pasta and "presto" (ready) or "lento" (slow) are perfect. Find out how right here. In the meantime...Happy Pasta Eating!!!

Food and Drink easy cooking pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night

Eggplant "Lasagna" for South Beach Dieting

Who says you can't have lasagna on the South Beach Diet!?! Actually by the time you're in Phase II (after 2 weeks) you really can have whole wheat or multigrain pasta - just not every day. Phase I, on the other hand, is carbohydrate restrictive and NO pasta is allowed. So what is a girl to do when she's the host of Presto Pasta Nights. I managed to post for it even when I was in the middle of moving and all my kitchen stuff was packed. Naturally, there is no way that I am going to keep from writing something now.

My daughter, Joanna calls this dish of hers by another name, but for this week it's Eggplant Lasagna....Thin grilled slices of eggplant replace actual sheets of pasta and between the cheeses (low fat, of course), the fresh basil and tomato sauce. And you'd never know the difference.

That said, I'm looking forward to next week - real pasta here we come!!!

I also was invited to take part in a great food blogging event put on by the wonderful Abby of Eat the Right Stuff...it's to celebrate National Vegetarian Week in the UK. Okay, I don't live in the UK and I'm pretty far removed from being called a vegetarian, but every once in a while the stars align and tonight's "pasta" is vegetarian so it qualifies, I'm happy to say. And because I am occasionally looking for vegetarian meals, I can't wait for the roundup.

Plus, it's Shavuot which is one of my favorite Jewish holidays. Remember that in my world, all holidays, no matter what religion revolve around food and are all wonderful celebrations of life. This one is associated with the Spring harvest, so lots of fruit, veggies and the reaping of grains. It is primarily a celebration of dairy dishes (meaning cheeses, salads and fish but no meat). The other interesting thing about this holiday for me is that it focuses on The Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. And even cooler - Boaz! (That's my grandson's name).

The starring dish I usually prepare is Cheese Blintzes, a very traditional Shavuot meal for Ashkenazi Jews (roots in Eastern Europe). It's really a crepe filled with cheese, baked and then smothered in sour cream

and my Berry Berry Compote.

They're both in my cookbook. In fact, you could even think of it as a dessert pasta.

So what are you doing for Presto Pasta Night? It's easy and fun. Remember that ALL noodles dishes count as pasta and "presto" or "lento" (I think that means slow) are perfect. Find out how right here. In the meantime...Happy Pasta Eating and think of me when you do!!!

Food and Drink easy cooking pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night

A Drive Along the Lighthouse Route

I can't believe it's actually more than an entire week since my Honey and I took a little exploratory drive along the Lighthouse Route. First let me say, that when we lived in Toronto, we'd frequently take a drive along an old, and now rarely used highway looking for some interesting scenery, market, restaurant....whatever. Of course it would take us more than an hour just to leave the city, so a "short" trip to the country would usually take us the entire day.

We're temporarily staying at my daughter and son-in-law's place (that's the view from the kitchen window) who live outside of Halifax just off the Prospect Highway (part of the Lighthouse Route, which actually goes along the Eastern Coast from Halifax all the way to Yarmouth). So we decided to see if we could actually find some lighthouses and some fishermen (I'm obsessed).

Be warned...this is one of the few posts you will ever find on my blog that does NOT have a recipe or pictures of some delicious meal or other.

As for the fishermen (or lobster men), I did find a boat at the pier in Lower Prospect, a cute fishing town of old, but no fishermen.

Although, we did spot someone digging for clams in Lower Prospect.

And we did see these empty lobster traps on the wharf, so I assume there's lobster fishing (actually, they're caught in traps) around.

This is Lower Prospect (I took so many pictures of Terrance Bay, Sandy Cove and Prospect Bay that I could be wrong). The terrain is very stark and yet very peaceful.

And my favorite spot was Prospect Village. It is quaint and lovely and tiny, with no signs of modern living. Think 1800's and you're close. I love it.

That's Prospect Bay and behind it the Atlantic Ocean....just spectacular views everywhere.

But now it's time to head home and make some dinner....and amazing but true - I don't remember what I cooked!

Related links:Nova Scotia

Presto Pasta Nights Roundup #12

Wow, there are now officially a dozen Presto Pasta Night Roundups with so many glorious dishes that I really AM glad I thought of doing this. I want to thank everyone who has participated and hope that you'll all continue to join in the fun and tell your friends to join in too.

I admit it, though, this was a difficult week for me. Doing South Beach Diet, Phase One means NO, I mean absolutely NO pasta. Which translates to...I was drooling even more than usual when I was putting this roundup together. But enough whining, let's get to the PASTA!

First in, in spite of the fact her knee is killing her, is Glenna of A Fridge Full of Food. She proves that even the wounded and sickly can whip up a great meal with a little help from Paul Newman and friends. Here's her Pasta with Frozen Meatballs.



Alisha of Cook, Craft, Enjoy (a great blog) is back with a wonderful pasta dish - so vibrant and tangy...Spaghetti with Mint, Garlic & Olives. I love it.



Sara of I Like to Cook is here with a story that made me smile. I too, love to have Food TV on in the background and I too, end up having to improvise when I realize I'm missing some (or most) of the ingredients. Here's her Rigatoni con Verdura inspired by Jamie Oliver.



Kevin of Closet Cooking joins us for the first time - a BIG welcome! He's from Toronto, so that alone is close to my heart. Plus he's got a great blog. He brings a wonderful light dish of Lemon Spaghetti.



Chris of the fabulous Mele Cotte is back with the perfect lunch (actually, I'd love it anytime) - Baked Chicken & Orzo Salad.



It seems everyone is having warm summery weather but us. The talented Bread Chick is back with her always interesting microwave pastas (she's living in a dorm during the week, but that's her story to tell, I'll just share these great recipes). This one is EasyPeasy Pasta Salad.



Lisa of Food & Spice is a first time PPNer - Welcome Lisa, glad you found us. This fabulous Pasta & Feta Casserole is stunning. I can't wait to try it.



Katie over at Other People's Food is back with a very excellent Farfalle with Cremini, Asparagus and Walnuts. Lucky for us, her husband makes her try ingredients she wouldn't normally eat.

Tigerfish of Teczcape is back again - lucky us!!! This time she shares a glorious looking Tom Yum Glass Noodle dish with tofu and shrimps. I'm drooling!!!



Abby of Eat the Right Stuff is back as well. It's always a treat and today's dish is a perfect "Ladies Lunch" (okay, the guys would love it too). This time around it's Open Ravioli with Asparagus, Minted Broad Beans and Prawns.



Another newcomer, Chemcook over at An Italian in the US shares this great looking dish. Of course the name will confuse some of us - Broccoli Pasta, Sicilian style - because really it's filled with cauliflower.


Becke of Columbus Foodie shares a secret...the way to use leftovers in a whole new way. We all have to try this Strozzapretti Alfredo with Sausages & Veggies. It looks awesome!

Sher of the wonderful What Did You Eat? is back with this way too beautiful Ravioli with Vegetable Puree & White Herb Sauce. I just love looking at it!

Lorraine of Italian Foodies shares this very wholesome and beautiful Spaghetti all' Amatriciana.
I just love the look of it, don't you?

Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything returns with the prettiest Trofie al Pesto. Even those of us who have never successfully made our own pasta can be a star with these. In fact, I plan on doing it with whole wheat flour as soon as I'm done with South Beach Diet, Phase One (one more week to go).



Even though I didn't make any pasta this week, I decided to share some of my personal favorites. Okay, I only shared three and I really love every single imaginable pasta, but I was getting too tempted and had to quit. One more week and I can really participate.

I will be adding late additions to this week's Presto Pasta Night until Saturday. Any I receive after that will be part of next week's PPN Event. So don't forget to join in with the rest of us Presto Pasta Nighters. It's easy and fun. Remember that ALL noodles dishes count as pasta and "presto" or "lento" (I think that means slow) are perfect.

Good thing I checked my Spam folder...I found 2 more entries that definitely don't belong there!!! First is S from Bird Food with this great Pasta with Red Peppers & Italian Sausage Sauce.

And then there was Deborah over at Taste and Tell with this Cheesy Goodness. I'm drooling and probably adding some calories (bad, since I'm dieting!) just by looking at it.

Two Mac & Cheese dishes in a row. Rebeca of Dinner in the Yellow House would love a trip to NYC but will settle for making every Mac & Cheese recipe from S'mac where all they serve is mac & cheese. This one sounds awesome with my favorite Manchego.
Somehow technology has not been my friend...2 entries in spam and this one from Freya over at Writing at the Kitchen Table got missed altogether! And what a pity that would have been. This quick Penne with Courgette (or Zucchini) & Peas looks divine.

Find out how right here. In the meantime...Happy Pasta Eating!!!

Food and Drink easy cooking pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night